Picture yourself as a miner, sailor, or just a new comer streaming into San Francisco in the 1850s and 1860s, becoming the Barbary Coast's primary customer.

You're overwhelmed by all the dance halls and concert saloons, where bleary-eyed men and washed out women stand around drinking dreadful liquor, smoking offensive tobacco, and engaging in vulgar conduct.

Now imagine... as a sailor - though you're afraid of being shanghaied - resisting the fear... hungry for female companionship and bawdy entertainment.

While meandering around the Barbary Coast Trail... many of those men woke up after a night's leave...